Megan Gileza

For me, creative writing is a way to bring substance to ideas and experiences—a way to find and verbalize the meaning within them in a way that allows others to understand them. As a result, I frequently write about my own life.There is something incredibly satisfying in trying to put words to something intangible like a thought or emotion.

 

My writing style is direct. I deal in concrete images and tend to say what I mean in a straight-forward way, allowing deeper meaning to emerge from physical details.

 

For example, in "But It Isn’t As Bad As It Sounds," I’ve built real, grounded scenes that come together to imply a theme of near-tragedy. "On the Regular" explores the details of a mundane part-time job in a coffee shop; however, the diction and form add a dimension of sensuality to the piece. "Coffee & God" uses a very real relationship with my grandfather to investigate a potential relationship with God.

 

Each of these pieces was written in hopes that this collection of details from my life might somehow relate to the much larger scale of the human condition. While the particulars of an experience might be unique to me, the meaning that emerges from the experience and from writing about it can hopefully apply to a wide audience.